


The Last Night at Laketown

by ceruleyana



Series: Starlit Skies [1]
Category: The Hobbit (Jackson Movies), The Hobbit - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Everyone Lives/Nobody Dies, Established Relationship, M/M, Post-Battle of Five Armies
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-29
Updated: 2020-06-29
Packaged: 2021-03-04 04:20:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,281
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24977539
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ceruleyana/pseuds/ceruleyana
Summary: Dain asks Bilbo and Thorin how it all began, and so they reminisce, but not before kicking Dain out, because it really is none of his business.
Relationships: Bilbo Baggins/Thorin Oakenshield
Series: Starlit Skies [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1815112
Comments: 6
Kudos: 93





	The Last Night at Laketown

Bilbo skirted around the elves, men, and dwarves in his path, all busy with their comings and goings. He had thought that dragons and orcs would be the hardest part of their journey, but it seems recovering from said monstrosities took a lot more work than he had estimated. Everyone in the camp was filled to the brim with tasks, including him - from healing the wounded to negotiations between the three races, it had surprised him that everyone had been cooperating nicely enough. He had expected an amount of animosity and bitterness from what had happened before the battle, but it seems that all three races had formed a fragile but clear truce.

Bilbo had his hands full, doing various errands when he wasn't attending to the sick. He had been feeling restless ever since the battle ended, which is why he kept himself busy. He never thought that he had a good bedside manner, but it may have been Bilbo's unassuming form which brought some comfort to those he attended, and he couldn't bother feeling offended by it.

Though Bilbo spent the days going to and fro the camps, he made it a point to always stop by the King's healing tent at the end of the day, to check up on said stubborn king who refused to lie still. He imagined that Thorin felt the same kind of restlessness that he does, but his injuries had not fully healed from his fight with Azog, and so has been stuck in bed and will be in the foreseeable future.

Bilbo's thoughts as of recently have been of nothing but Thorin - his wellbeing, his demeanor, but most especially Thorin's... feelings for him. He had thought that the betrayal of the Arkenstone had all but snuffed anything that had been blossoming between them, but it would seem that he was wrong. Ravenhill had been understandable. Thorin had thought that he was dying, and so did Bilbo, who barely held himself together as Thorin said his parting words to him - words of love and forgiveness. Now that the storm has passed, and Thorin was certainly not dying, Bilbo had been afraid that he would take it all back and send him away, yet that has not happened. Quite the opposite. Thorin had been warm and welcoming, seeming to come alive whenever Bilbo would enter his tent, and they would talk for hours about nothing and everything. They had both expressed regret at their actions and had exchanged heartfelt apologies when Thorin had first regained consciousness, yet there was still a small seed of doubt in Bilbo's mind.

As he neared his destination - a healing tent that was the shade of blue that he had come to associate with Thorin - these were the thoughts that consumed him. Upon reaching the healing tent, he heard low noises coming from within, followed by a somewhat familiar booming laugh. Bilbo hesitated before deciding to come back later when Thorin no visitors when he heard his name being shouted from his left.

"Ah, Bilbo!" shouted Oin, holding up his ear trumpet on one hand, and a cup of steaming liquid on another. "Would you give this to Thorin? He won't listen to his bloody healer. Maybe you could knock some sense into him."

"Oin, I was actually-" Bilbo started, but when he looked up from the drink that was shoved into his hand, Oin had already been heading inside another tent. "Drat."

"Bilbo?" Thorin called out from inside the tent.

"Well, no turning back..." He muttered to himself as he entered the tent. From his bed, Thorin looked at him, grinning. He now had a great scar running down the right side of his forehead, and had his chest covered in large swathes of bandages, but was otherwise looking rather healthy. At his bedside was Dain Ironfoot, looking at him with a gleam in his eyes.

"Hullo, Thorin. Master Ironfoot." Bilbo tried forming a smile, but as Thorin's brow wrinkled, he saw that he had failed.

"Is anything the matter?" Thorin looked at him worriedly as Bilbo approached his bedside, cup in hand.

"No, no. Just tired, I suppose. Lots to do, you know." Bilbo had hoped that this would satisfy Thorin, and placed the cup in his hands. "Oin said you should drink this."

Luckily, it seemed that the drink had distracted Thorin from Bilbo's demeanor. "I will not. It makes me groggy and slow." Thorin wrinkled his nose. "You can tell Oin that nothing can make me drink that swill for I do not need it."

"Thorin Oakenshield, you will drink it now or I will make you regret it!" Bilbo glared at Thorin while Thorin looked back at him with a withering stare. Bilbo willed himself not to blink or look away, and after what seemed like an age, Thorin relented and drank it in one swig.

"I hope that you are happy now, Master Burglar." Thorin put the cup to the side. "I shall be dull-witted for the rest of your stay, and will no doubt fall victim to your many verbal barbs with no way to defend myself." Though Thorin frowned at him disapprovingly, there was a twinkle of mirth in his eyes.

"Ah, yes. This has been my plan all along." Bilbo rolled his eyes fondly, momentarily forgetting all his worries. "As though I need the help of some drug to win against an argument with you."

Thorin was about to respond when Dain coughed to catch their attention, his eyes somewhere on Bilbo's chest. "I don't mean to interrupt you two, but cousin... care to tell me when all this came about?" He waggled his thick eyebrows suggestively.

Bilbo looked at Dain in confusion while Thorin sputtered from where he sat. "Sorry," Bilbo blinked. "but when you say 'all this', what exactly do you mean?"

Before Dain could answer, Thorin, flushing, responded. "Laketown. It started in Laketown."

"I..." Bilbo, upon realizing what they were referring to, went pink.

"Well!" Dain hooted. "I didn't know you had it in you, Thorin! In the middle of the quest too!"

"No!" Thorin looked scandalized. "Nothing happened. We just kissed. At least, that's what I remember. I... I wouldn't-"

"Oh, really, Thorin." Dain smiled at the pair of them, yet looking no less mischievous. "I just never thought you'd find someone _to_ kiss, that's all."

"What? I find that hard to believe." Bilbo scoffed. "Thorin was a dwarven prince, and a rather good-looking one too for all his stubbornness." Thorin flushed even harder at Bilbo's words.

"Well, I'm glad you find my cousin handsome, lad." Dain nodded with approval. "He deserves someone who appreciates him." He winked at Thorin who refused to look at anyone in the tent. "So, how did it happen? Was it under the stars or over supper?"

"Master Ironfoot, with all due respect, it is none of your business!" Bilbo said hotly, his body feeling warm with embarrassment.

"You've got some fire in you. I can see why Thorin likes you!" Dain grinned. "But, please, call me Dain. I have a feeling you'll be part of the family soon."

Bilbo still felt irritated at Dain but his politeness won over. "Then please, call me Bilbo, Dain. If only you'd stop prying. Also, if you wouldn't mind, I'd like to speak to Thorin alone."

Dain held his hands up. "Alright, alright. Just curious. I'll leave you two to it, then. Bilbo. Thorin." Dain got up from his seat, and walked out of the tent, laughing all the while.

As Dain left the tent, an uncomfortable silence loomed over them, at least it did for Bilbo. Judging from the way Thorin still refused to look at him, he must have felt it too.

"So..." Bilbo started, desperate to get rid of the awkward silence. "You remember Laketown."

"Of course!" Thorin looked up yet still not meeting Bilbo's eyes. "How could I forget?"

"What do you remember from it, exactly?" Bilbo fidgeted with his hands while taking the seat that was previously Dain's.

"Well, I had been pleasantly drunk, and the ale had given me courage to tell you what I have felt for a long time, and so I did." Thorin smiled, finally meeting Bilbo's eyes. "I remember you smiling at me for many moments, so I assume I quite charmed you with my proclamations."

"Well, I wouldn't say charmed is the right word..." Bilbo tilted his head while Thorin looked slightly alarmed. "It was very flattering, don't get me wrong, and it means a lot to me coming from you, but after the hour had passed, I think you had compared me to every gem that has ever existed. It had turned into a kind of game for the others, where they'd guess which gem you'd compare me to next." Thorin's face, as Bilbo continued, turned from alarmed to horrified from what he said next. "Then you started singing a song in Khuzdul. I couldn't understand what you were saying, but judging from the way Dwalin's face turned red, I don't think it was very decent."

"...I think I vaguely remember that, now that you say it." Thorin went from being red to a pale gray.

"Oh, don't worry so much." Bilbo smiled at him, tilting Thorin's head up with his hand. "I know you think us hobbits are gentle folk, but we're not strangers to drinking songs. I bet I can give you a run for your money, if you get me drunk enough."

Thorin smiled weakly at him. "It wasn't all terribly bad, was it?"

"Well." Bilbo continued. "I helped you up to your room because you can barely walk. You dwarves are very heavy, you know. On the way there, you looked up at the sky and said-"

" _I would marry you on a night such as this, when the stars shine as bright as they do now._ " Thorin smiled at Bilbo, and Bilbo thought that Thorin had placed too much value on the stars when his smile shone twice as bright.

"It was terribly romantic, yes." Bilbo smiled back at Thorin, his heart skipping one or two beats as it did the first time Thorin said those words. "More than made up for the song."

"So we reached my room..."

"Yes, and I practically had to drag you to bed at this point. You were swaying so hard." Bilbo nodded, chuckling.

"But before you left, you kissed me." Thorin beamed. "That I could not possibly forget. You practically glowed right before your lips met mine."

"I think that was just the light of the room behind my head, but alright, you sap." Bilbo laughed heartily. "It was lovely up until the point when you lost consciousness and started snoring in my mouth." Bilbo's words turned into breathless giggles at Thorin's expression.

"Oh, don't look so glum, Thorin." Bilbo grinned. "It was lovely. I would've still enjoyed it even if you were covered in troll snot."

"I had planned to make my intentions known after Erebor had been reclaimed." Thorin did indeed look glum. "I was to shower you with the riches of my people. Drink had loosened my tongue that night, but I had hoped that I was able to still make known to you that my intentions are true and heartfelt despite not having reclaimed the mountain just yet, but it seems-"

"Oh, do stop, Thorin." Bilbo shook his head fondly. "I don't need to have any riches thrust upon me to prove your love. I love you, you ridiculous dwarf, for who you are. Because you are brave and stubborn and temperamental and an absolute sap of a dwarf. You can sing a hundred drinking songs or snore in my mouth every time we kiss, but that won't change." Bilbo paused. "Don't snore in my mouth, though. It felt very uncomfortable."

Thorin leaned forward and caught Bilbo's lips into a deep kiss. It was different from their first, uncoordinated and hasty with the clicking of teeth. This was slow and purposeful, both of them savoring this moment. They explored each other's mouths hungrily, almost afraid to let go of each other, but the spell ended, and they broke apart for need of air.

"Better?" Thorin asked, settling in his bed.

"Better." Bilbo looked at Thorin with a small smile, his lips still tingling from the heat. "I would assume from that kiss that you still feel the way you did in Laketown?"

Thorin blinked. "Why would you think otherwise, Bilbo?" When Bilbo didn't answer, Thorin's eyes lit up with understanding. "You think I am still angry at you. Bilbo, if anything, you should be the one angry at me. My actions are what caused yours, after all. You only did what you thought necessary."

"Bilbo, look at me." Thorin took Bilbo's hands in his. "I have forgiven you the moment I recovered from the sickness. I hope you have forgiven me too, though I would understand if you have changed your mind. But do understand that I love you as well. I would repeat all the promises that I made that night if I have to. I would have you understand that that _stone_ will never come between us again. I will not let it."

Bilbo, who's eyes had gotten slightly watery, then leaned towards Thorin but was stopped by Thorin's hand on his lips. "As much as I would love to have your lips on mine, I think the medicine is starting to take effect. We wouldn't want me snoring in your mouth again, would we?"

Bilbo huffed, smiling softly at Thorin. "Well, until tomorrow?"

"Until tomorrow." Thorin agreed. "And the next, and the next."


End file.
